entranceway | eighth galaxy [video]

Entry tags:

eighth galaxy [video]

[The camera opens on Shepard standing against a display wall, with a bunch of chatter going on behind her. There's some text displayed, but it's too big to be seen through the limited scope of the video. She smiles, and mock salutes with two fingers.]

Gotta say, out of all the things Wonderland could've drawn from for me, this is probably the best end of the deal. So hey everybody, welcome to the Citadel. Yes, you're in space. No, you don't need a suit unless you wanna go outside, and I wouldn't recommend it.

[She swaps the video feed for a few moments to outside her surroundings, showing a crowded view of the Silversun Strip, and then back to her face.]

The Citadel's the hub of galactic government in my universe. Lots to do, lots to see. You've probably all got omni-tools, but they're pretty basic to learn. In general, try to stay away from any places that look seedy, and if it's illegal where you come from, it's probably illegal here. Otherwise, go wild. If you need directions, the holographic terminals are VI information guides. Ask 'em whatever. Or, y'know, you've got the extranet in the palm of your hands, so you can just search it yourself.

[She looks like she's gonna stop, and then grins a little bit wider.]

Oh, and one more thing...

[She steps away from the wall to show she's standing in front of a display sign. A very particular display sign.]

I re-maxed my high score at the Armax combat arena. I'll buy anyone who can beat me without cheating a free meal. Good luck.

[She winks, and cuts the feed.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Thank you so much. I will definitely let you know.

I think that's about everything until I experience it all.

Sounds good. And I'm glad. We all have stuff to keep us busy in Wonderland, but I guess if there was ever a time to pick up a new skill, this would be it. The downtime between events is literally all free time no matter how you slice it.

[Even if everyone might be better off using it to like, figure out ways to escape. But the last few attempts have been disastrous and frankly she's not the person to be asking about that. She's the muscle and tactics gal. Let her know when the tech works, and she'll move the people around it.]

I should probably take my own advice on that, actually. I don't really have much of a hobby to speak of, still.

[She's like, effectively out of model ships to build.]

I could always teach you about baking. Or knitting, perhaps! I could probably spin you quite the yarn about how relaxing it has been for me!

[Really, escaping isn't something that crosses Toriel's mind very much- probably because she's pretty sure she'll just cease to exist and resume being dead, if she stops being in this place.

She really, really tries to avoid thinking about it.]

Or, well. With as big as a place this is, I am sure there are plenty of things to find for us to spend our time together doing!

Good to hear it. And have fun. I hope you enjoy it to the fullest.

[She means it, too-- it'll be worth it, coming here, everything she endured, if she could bring something good to these people.]

See you soon. Hopefully not for trouble.

[NO IT'S NOT, RICK. Regardless, she nods a bit at his explanation.]

That's the base of it. One of them attacked this station what would be about a year or two ago, at this point in time. The Council tried to cover it up, but I know all the data's in here, and if Wonderland replicated everything well enough, my Spectre codes should get us through the door and past the fake shit.

[Thankfully she knows what they're looking for, or at least what the lies look like. She motions for Rick to follow as the door slides open in front of her into a rather clerical office-looking space, which Shepard does her best 'don't fuck with me' look straight through, shoulders back, feet heavy, as people move around her effortlessly as she makes it to the back door, pulling out her omni-tool as it scans for access.]

Though here. Stay with me. Don't do anything to draw attention.

Then go enjoy yourself. Good luck finding all you wanna find.

Nice. S-So we should be able to at least get some fucking snippets. I can work with snippets.

[He rolls his eyes, as if offended by the notion that he would EVER draw attention to himself, and follows. He looks around the office and at some of the people around, trying to act like he's bored out of his mind, which isn't too hard because he actually is.]

You know, I might actually take you up on cooking, as long as you promise not to laugh at me for how bad I am at it.

[She's great at small, finessed movements, but like... I dunno, man, cooking has just never come easily to her.]

For now, though, you got anything in mind? I know a good lunch spot around here, if you're hungry.

[Rick you blew yourself completely up like two days after she met you, don't fuckin' play. Regardless, the door pings as it opens and she pushes him through a bit, past the receptionist and scanners into an absolutely massive vault.]

C'mon. We just have to find an out of the way terminal, and don't aggro any security bots, alright? Let me know if you see something off in a corner.

[That was special circumstances, god!]

Jesus fuck. You'd think they'd manage to j-just compress some of this stuff. Place is goddamn huge. Think I see an open one over there.

[He points.]

[YOU STILL DID IT YOU OBTUSE FUCK.]

Some of it's artifacts, but most of it's terminals under different subjects, kept under literal lock and key and separate databases to prevent hacking. The more secure stuff is all closed-system so you have to come in and physically change it.

[Which certainly slowed her clone down when she had to break in to change her fingerprints. Regardless, she makes sure they're not being tailed, and leads him over to the terminal, syncing her omni-tool with the database and beginning the search.]

You gonna record this somehow or just try and remember it? I don't wanna have it up very long or someone might come asking questions.

[EAT MY SHORTS.]

Artifacts, alright, th-that makes more sense. Fucking museums.

[He taps the phone-converted-into-omnitool thing.]

I'll download it and take it back. M-Maybe make a hard copy CliffsNotes version.

[ While Shepard makes her way through the area with an air of familiarity, Steve has to fight not to stop and watch everything that's going on. Instead of being a pure combat setting, there's clearly an element of entertainment here too. It's meant to be for fun, but they'll also get the chance to show off what they can do. Sounds good to him.

When Shepard makes use of that device on her arm in order to get access to the waiting area for fighters, Steve glances down at his own as he follows. An omni-tool, it's called, though he hasn't had the chance to experiment with it much yet.

He has to decide if he wants to rent equipment or fight with his fists alone. It's a touchy question these days, given that he hasn't been using the shield at all. In some ways it's forced him to learn other methods of fighting, which isn't a bad thing. ]

I'm more used to fighting humanoid targets overall, but I've dealt with a few aliens and giant monsters too. How about a mix?

[ That'll be more of a challenge, which Steve is always up for. ]

[YOU EAT YOUR SHORTS. Regardless, she continues to poke through until she makes a small 'ah' noise, and the terminal springs to life, projecting a picture of the Citadel station and, in front of it, a truly massive bug-like creature. As it appears, an audio overlay file begins to play. Shepard lets it go with rapt attention.]

So this is what they told everyone. That it was just a ship.

[If Rick remembers the name of her ship, he might see the quirk of a smile at it's commendation of "the commander and crew of the SSV Normandy". Regardless, as it hits it's last line, she waves her omni-tool over it, and the terminal sputters, the audio distorts, and changes to "SPECTRE ACCESS CODE DETECTED; UNLOCKING DEEP FILES" and pulls onto the real audio records. (It'll play the sections Reapers, Sovereign, and Indoctrination, which Shepard will stand, arms behind her back at attention, and simply let wash over her. As soon as it finishes, the terminal switches back to the first recording, and simply shows a simulation of the station again.]

So that's our start. What do you think?

Edited (i fucked the html) 2017-06-04 04:32 (UTC)

[She nods as they head down the stairs and up to a terminal that displays a large, fabricated screen in front of them. At Shepard's touch, it springs from it's screensaver- a mirror of the scoreboard outside- to a selection screen with five columns that she can tab through with her fingers. The first one is already filled out and sunk back a bit, with a picture of both of them displayed under the word "squadmates". She selects the next column, labelled "enemy", and scrolls through.]

If you're looking for a mix, you're probably wanting Reapers. Cerberus is all humans, Geth are all robotics, and Collectors are strictly alien. Reaper soldiers are made from all species in the galaxy, so you'll have a good combo of 'shoulders and a definable head' and 'skittering insect thing with huge sack of acid'.

[She keys it in and flips to the next column, labelled "challenge level", where the options display "foot soldiers", "elites", and "super elites".]

You got a preference for difficulty? Easy, medium, or hard, essentially.

[He sits and leans back as he studies the files and listens to the audio.]

Sure, yeah, d-definitely a ship. Fucking idiots.

[He listens to the real records then, taking mental notes. Most of this is stuff Shepard has already told him, but some of it is new. Enough to be worth noticing.]

Not bad, but what about b-b-biological data? Thing that big must have left a giant fuckoff corpse. There's really no like, bits of it left?

The problem with keeping it is that any part of a Reaper, even derelict or separated from the host ship, can indoctrinate someone. Keeping it's incredibly dangerous. But... if our next stop exists yet, they should have a piece kept under a containment field. As long as the lab's there, I can make up some Spectre bullshit to get us in. I just know timeline-wise that I didn't end up there for another two years. There's a possibility the piece isn't there yet... though there might be one other place to look.

[She remembers there was an artifact found in Udina's office, too, but getting in there with a random scientist would be a lot harder, seeing as she's never liked Udina and she's pretty sure Udina has never liked her.]

You got what you need here? I don't wanna give security more time to figure out what I'm accessing unless they decide to get uppity.

Some overcomplicated bullshit i-is what that is. Fucking clever, not, not leaving a safe corpse, i-it's like those beetles that explode when they die. Motherf-fuckers.

[He taps his omnitool and the hologram fades.]

Yeah, I got what I needed. Let's s-see this piece of wormfuck, i-if it exists.

We've got those too, by the way. Rachni explode into acid if you don't take 'em from a distance.

[The universe is a horrifying place my dude. But she closes down the terminal, makes sure it's wiped, and takes a quick glance around before motioning him to follow her back out the way they came to the car, kicking it into gear quickly when they're there. She has no idea if her stuff's being monitored for working with Cerberus or not, but at least she'll only need to avoid flags on her fake accounts for a few days.]

Just promise me you're not going to look at this thing and start calling it your overlord or anything. The only cure for indoctrination is a bullet to the head.

Hahaha holy fuck.

[He follows her, deftly avoiding mocking any of the staff, and rolls his eyes at the suggestion that he might be down for mindfuck.]

Please, i-if it came to that I'd fucking do it myself. I've inoculated myself against s-s-seven different kinds of mind control and I'm fucking positive I can come up with a vaccine for this piece of shit spacebug too.

Hey, I believe you, but the warning should be out there. It's not that I don't trust you, I've just never seen anybody develop an individual cure for this thing. I've seen people resist it, take longer to turn, or break it for minutes at a time. There are ways to put barriers around it on pieces, too, but... once the corrosion is done, it's done.

[She flies down the middle of the presidium, thinking about what she's seen. Matriarch Benezia begging to be killed for what she's done. Saren, raising the gun to his own head as he forces his arm under his chin. Udina, screaming in front of the skycar, his plan foiled. People degraded, taken away from themselves. She's been through more Reaper presence than most, herself-- who knows how close she is on some invisible meter to where she might stop fighting.]

It's just rough to see. I wouldn't want to have to take you out for a situation I got you in.

W-Well you have full fucking permission to blow my brains out if I get all mind-fucked.

[Seriously, he'd rather be dead for a few days than beholden to some dumbass spacebugs.]

If y-you've been around them so much how come you're not affected? There must be some, some kind of im-MUURRRRHHH-unity.

Same.

[That's all that probably needs to be said on the matter. She'd rather be dead than beholden to the Reapers. The damage she could do, from her position... it's too much to think about. So she won't, and addresses his next question instead.]

Honestly, I haven't the slightest. I'm going with a mix of pure dumb luck, my body being 60% cybernetics, and the fact that every time I think about a Reaper I'm consumed entirely by spite.

Spite's a powerful fu-fucking thing. Y-You can go real far on nothing but spite.

[Like waging an entire war, or planning the downfall of an entire government.]

Trust me, I fuckin' know it.

[She pulls the skycar down suddenly, and around to a grassy landing pad outside of a long string of glass doors, climbing out as soon as it's landed.]

Looks like the lab's here. Let's see if anyone's inside.

[She steps towards the door and it opens automatically as her omni-tool makes a small 'ping', proving her access codes were still active. She scans the lab space proper at first, and then takes a sharp left through a small hallway into a much bigger, lofted room... and to exactly what she's looking for, sitting in the containment field like always.]

Bingo. That's what we were here to find. Bona-fide Reaper bit, in a containment field. If someone shows up, I'll do the talking.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 8 of 10

eighth galaxy [video]

video

no subject

no subject

no subject

[action!]

video

[action!]

no subject

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action]

[action!]

[action]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]

[action!]